Simultaneously
by C. F Hamilton
Summary: It happens simultaneously. Their eyes meet. Gellert is the first to look away. Both feel something new but neither knows how to act upon it. Could this be the start of something beautiful or something dreadful?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

It happens simultaneously. Their eyes meet. Gellert is the first to look away. Both feel something new but neither knows how to act upon it. They return to their research, trying to shake the same thoughts out of their head. Albus tries to hide a flush face and opens a new book. Mutually begin to think, what is happening? Could this happen to me? Could I really fall in love?

**A/N: Hello! I'm back and I hope you enjoyed the prologue. This story may take more time then usual for me to upload. Also, this story is practice for third person writing so any critiques are welcomed and appreciated, as long as they're not flames.**

**Love,**

**Pastry~**


	2. They Meet

**Chapter One: They Meet **

The summer is searing here in Godric's Hollow. Some might say it's unbearable, what's worse is that here in this town there is nothing for young teenagers to do. The year is 1,899. The turn of the century is coming up and it still seems as if nothing has changed. Seems being the operative word.

Life in one of these houses residing in Godric's Hollow has changed tremendously over the past couple of years. In the house of Dumbledore it is anything but stable. Poor Ariana who was attacked by a couple of Muggles has been permanently traumatized. Kendra Dumbledore moved the family to this humble hollow to save Ariana from St. Mungo's Hospital and to hide her family from the shame of her husband's imprisonment at Azkaban. The neighbors simply thought she was a squib and left it at that. Sadly, it did not end there. The day before the eldest child, Albus, was to leave for a tour around the world Kendra died at the hands of one of Ariana's magical outbursts. These series of unfortunate events left Albus to cancel his summer plans and began to resentfully provide for his family.

Although it may appear that today is no different from the many others, today will change the lives of the Dumbledore family, once again, for the worse. The woman known as Bathilda Bagshot walks out of her humble abode and goes to wait in front her house. She taps her foot impatiently and repeatedly checks her watch every other second. Finally the tapping and checking stops and her attention is drawn to a particular location on her lawn.

"About time",

She mumbles aloud but mostly to herself. A young boy, no older than sixteen, apparates at the location in which Bathilda was looking. He walks up to her and flashes her a false smile,

"Hello Aunt Bathilda"

She nods, not bothering to smile back.

"How was your trip?"

"Uneventful"

They stand there for a moment longer in awkward silence. Eventually Bathilda turns on her heel and walks back into her house, waving to the boy to follow.

He does so and with a wave of his wand his luggage magically follows. The boy grimaces when he sees his great aunt, yes great aunt, sit down at a small circular table with a piping hot cup of tea in front of her.

"I see you'll waste no time beating around the bush"

"Of course, Gellert. This is not a subject to fool around about with"

Gellert joins his great aunt at the small table. He knows this conversation will be about why his parents sent him here,

"Expelled, hmm? Can you imagine the embarrassment you've placed upon this family? I mean really, almost killing your fellow classmates. You're lucky the ministry decided to not lock you up!"

"Honestly I really don't care how you or the rest of our family feels about my being expelled. It's my life and I'll do whatever the hell I please"

Once Gellert finishes his statement Bathilda's face drains of it's color and becomes a ghostly white.

"You're lucky I promised your parents that I would take you in for the summer"

Gellert snorts and she shoots him a look that he ignores. She sighs and says,

"This is tiring Gellert"

While she says this her eyes brighten, she seems to have thought up an idea,

"I think I know just what you need"

Bathilda stands from her small circular table and out the door once more. Gellert shrugs and stands to follow. They walk down the street and turn to the last house on the left. Bathilda knocks on the door and a boy, younger than Gellert, answers,  
"Ms. Bagshot, how may I help you?"

"Aberforth, I was wondering if I might talk to your brother. Is he home?"

Aberforth nods and allows them to enter. He walks off deeper into the house and another boy returns in his place. His hair is a fair blonde and his eyes hold remnants of a twinkle.

"How may I help you?"

"Oh Albus! Deary, this is my great nephew Gellert. He needs a good straightening out and I was hoping you would teach him some responsibility"

Gellert grimaces as he looks at Albus. He doesn't want to be here much less spending his time with some stranger teaching him 'responsibility'. Albus takes a second to think but eventually nods to Bathilda,

"Wonderful! He'll be over here early in the morning tomorrow. Still needs to unpack you know",

She explains with an enormous smile on her face. Albus nods and they walk out of the Dumbledore house, neither of the two families knowing what they've just gotten themselves into.

A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to update. School has started and I've been busy with my classes but I will still update and write whenever I can. Hope you enjoyed.

**Love,**

**Pastry**


	3. The Greater Good

**Chapter Two: The Greater Good**

Gellert didn't understand why this was happening to him. Truly he didn't care that he had been kicked out of his school, he didn't even care that his parents had sent him away. What he did care about was why he was being sent to some strangers house when he could be spending his time elsewhere, like in his bed asleep. He sighed as he walked up the steps and knocked on the door of the Dumbledore's. Tapping his foot impatiently he waited for someone to grant him access into the house. With any luck whoever lives here will allow him to sleep on their couch or something of the sort.

Finally, just as Gellert was about to lose patience and blow off the house all together, a young man opened the door.

"Hello?"

The young boy asked,

"Ugh, my Aunt Bathilda set it up for me to spend my day here"

"Oh, right. Albus! The charity case is here!"

Gellert's eye twitched and he fought back the urge to hex the boy into oblivion. How dare he call him, the Great Gellert, or at least that's what he called himself, a charity case? The thought was banished from his mind once he heard the thumping sounds of footsteps approach.

"Oh, Gellert, right, um, come on in"

Gellert entered and looked around the house. Honestly, it looked terrible. Cobwebs were everywhere, the place was crawling with dust and what's worse is that there were animal 'droppings' on the ground. Gellert hoped with every fiber of his being that he would not have to be the one to clean this place up.

Meanwhile Albus had walked the opposite direction of Gellert. Albus shrugged on his jacket and began to walk out the house. Albus has two siblings to take care of, he can't let this boy make idle of his much needed time,

"Gellert, I have work and I hope that you leave my family at peace while you're here"

Gellert nodded and makes his way to the couch for a nice long nap.

When Gellert awoke the sun had already set and all was quiet. Suddenly he heard a scuffling in the room adjacent to the one he was in,

"Oh, Gellert, you're finally awake"

It was Albus, he was holding a glass of water and it was all too apparent that he himself had just returned home only a few short minutes ago. Several moments of silence passed and neither knew what to say to one another,

"Why does your aunt want me to set you straight?"

Albus was the one to first talk; this question had been bothering him all day.

"'Cuz I was kicked out of Durmstrang"

By now Gellert was sitting up straight and Albus took a seat next to him on the couch.

"How come you were expelled?"

Gellert grimaces and rubs the back of his neck nervously,

"I was doing some experiments and almost killed a couple classmates"

Gellert expected Albus to flinch, shrink away, have some sort of reaction but all he did was ask another question,

"What type of experiments?"

"I was trying to find the Deathly Hollows"

This made Albus raise his eyebrows in surprise,

"The myth?"

Gellert nodded.

Hours pass as the two begin their newfound subject in which they have in common. They both believed in the legend of the Hollows and wished to be the masters of all three objects. Soon they began to laugh and make jokes about what they would do if they did have the Hollows.

"I'd enslave those pompous Muggles"

After a moment of silence Albus nodded in agreement.

"You agree?"

"When my sister, Ariana, was six she was attacked by a couple of Muggle boys, just because they saw her do some magic. They deserve it."

"One thing that vaguely seems impossible to them they freak out and become hostile. We're the superior race, why should we have to live in secrecy?"

"They're a bunch of menaces, someone should wipe them out"

"Someone like us"

"Yeah, we're strong enough, especially if we find the Hollows. Besides, if anyone did try to stop us then…"

"Then we would dispose of them like the rest of the Muggles because it be for the Wizarding communities better interest…"

"…It'd be for the Greater Good"

**A/N: Hello! It's finally Winter Break and I found some time to update the story. Sorry if the grammar goes a little fuzzy in some places. I can't remember if I was using past tense or present so I think I changed it every now and then. Again I apologize for that but as always I hope you enjoyed,**

**Love, **

**Pastry~**


	4. Downhill

**Chapter Three: Downhill **

Weeks began to pass in a blurry haze. While Albus and Gellert seemed to grow closer to one another, Aberforth seemed to shrink from them as quickly as possible. Resentment was filling up in the younger brother. Abterforth's love for his week sister was all that kept him from speaking his mind to the older wizards. The strain was beginning to be too much for the underage wizard.

Albus and Gellert were hardly ever seen separate from each other, bursts of laughter—from inside jokes between the two—and notes being passed feverishly to one another became quite the common site whenever the two were together, or, in some cases, when the two had to be separated by a couple of houses.

It was a warm, hot, mid August day. Children could be seen up and down the street running and playing in some form of water fun. In one house however, no one was outdoors. With Aberforth in Ariana's room and Albus and Gellert in another, both parties were too busy to take advantage of the beautiful day that was just outside their walls.

"I don't know how much we can rely on the book itself, it's probably been twisted by Beedle—"

"That is no matter, Albus, we know what we are looking for and I am willing to do anything to find these items"

"Gellert, surely you can't have inferred my previous statement as one of despair. I am merely stating the obvious and trying to brainstorm some ideas that could lead us to the objects we seek"

Gellert backed down, though sneered when he thought he heard Albus mumble,

"So sensitive, really…"

He, however, did not ask Albus to repeat himself and returned to the bloody tale, which followed the Elder Wand.

"What object do you wish for the most?"

Albus asked suddenly, after a brief period of silence between the two. Gellert did not hesitate, nor to look up, as he replied,

"The wand, of course. That way we'd have nothing to stand in our way of domination over the Muggles. Why? Do you not agree?"

"Er, I suppose I agree that the wand would be the most powerful…"

"Yes… but that is not the one you would choose, now is it?"

"You're right, I'd prefer to have the stone"

Gellert scoffed, as if offended by the idea of choosing the stone over the wand.

"Why would you want the stone over the wand?"

It took a small amount of time for Albus to reply, but when he did it was not truly an answer,

"I have my reasons"

As he looked into Gellert's eyes, he knew he would protest but was stopped by the piercing eyes that told him not to push it.

"Sure, sure"

They fell back into their silent research. Making little progress on the Hallows front and just a bit more progress on the "Greater Good", they walked downstairs. Aberforth was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, holding a tray of food, which was obviously meant for Ariana. Gellert pushed past him and sneered. Aberforth glared in return and was about to say something but held his tongue at the last minute.

Once they were alone, Gellert said,

"He's a bit annoying, isn't he?"

Albus looked up from a book he picked up from a shelf,

"What? Oh, yes, he can be annoying at times. Doesn't matter though, so long as he stays out of the way. He'll be going back to school soon anyway"

"Hm, well Aunt Bathilda will be wondering what's keeping me. See you tomorrow Al"

And with that he departed from the residence down the street. Albus' blue eyes stared after him for a bit until a cough brought him back from his reverie.

"He thinks I'm annoying, does he? What an ass…"

"Don't call him that!"

"Why the hell not? He acts all superior to everyone here, well, except you that is—"

"That's because we're equals!"

Aberforth didn't like being interrupted by his brother and became overcome with a feeling to yell and shout, even curse, his brother until he saw things his way. He knows though, he knew that Albus could out duel him any day of the week. Though that didn't make him keep his mouth completely shut,

"What are you two working on in there anyway?"

Albus stiffens,

"Something dangerous, isn't it? Something you shouldn't be doing? Are you planning on hurting people?"

"No! No, we're trying to make the world a better place—"

"By hurting people?"

Aberforth gave a dry laugh,

"That's rich Al, real rich—"

"Oh, shut up you! Go upstairs and just _shut up!_"

Aberforth stared at his brother for some time until he did as his brother told him to do, and walked upstairs into Ariana's room.

* * *

Another few weeks passed and Albus and Aberforth barely talked to each other unless completely necessary. Once again the two wizards could be found in Albus' room, looking over documents that they believed could be related to the Hallows.

"My mum wrote me a letter"

"Oh really? What was it about?"

"Nothing much, just the usual greeting and love. However, something caught her attention that she apparently just couldn't help from telling me"

They stared at each other for a moment, Albus waiting for him to continue, and Gellert waiting for Albus to guess,

"Well?"

Albus asked, and Gellert smiled his handsome smile to him,

"Apparently, my countries wand maker—"

"Gregorovitch?"

"Yes, him. He's been spreading the rumor that he has the Wand of Destiny. Mum thinks that he's just trying to promote business but what if he was telling the truth? That he really has the Elder Wand!"

Albus looked at him for a long time, then smiled.

"That'd definitely be something to look into"

There work for the rest of the day became much more busied and excited. Then, ten minutes before Gellert was expected to leave for his Aunt's house it happened. Simultaneously, the two boys looked up into each other's eyes. Something sparked between the two then, neither really knew what the spark meant, or what to do next. They stared at one another, relishing in the mutual feeling, until Gellert looked away towards the clock,

"Crap, I'm late!"

Albus looked at the clock as well and nodded. He should have left five minutes ago.

"You should go, tell Bathilda it was my fault—I was making you help me clean the house, or something"

Gellert smiled his handsome smile and departed from the room, then the house. Every once in a while looking back towards Albus' window, where Albus stood watching Gellert depart down the street.

* * *

It was the last day of August, the day before Aberforth was supposed to return the Hogwarts. However, unlike so many other returning students, Aberforth was not happy in the least. Leaving for Hogwarts mean t leaving Ariana. This idea frightened him. Who would take care of her now that he was leaving? The thought of Albus doing it was, albeit acceptable, except for the reminder that Gellert would take up all of his time. Would Albus even remember poor Ariana? Or would he simply forsake her and not give her the nourishments she would need.

Aberforth was in his room now, contemplating what to do. If only Albus would let him stay here and not force him back to school for "his education". He scoffed at the idea; it was almost as silly as "the Greater Good". He sighed, not knowing quite what to do. Perhaps, he thought, I can try to appeal to Al again, no harm in that.

Walking down the hall to his brother's room, he noticed it was ajar and couldn't help but peer inside to see what they were really up to. Although he had some kind of inkling as to what it was. Inside was pretty calm, save for the awkward glances they would give each other without the others knowledge. Aberforth, however, could not see these glances and gave it no heed when he knocked on the door. Albus looked up, confused, and said,

"Ab, come in. Is there something you need?"

Aberforth walked in, looked at Gellert—who sneered at him—and asked,

"I know I've asked you this before, but please, please can I stay here? And not return to Hogwarts?"

Gellert gave a snort, which Aberforth tried his hardest to ignore. Albus sighed,

"No Ab, your education is important and—"

"But then who will take care of Ariana!"

"I will, of course"

"Oh, please, you'll be too busy planning the killings of Muggles to care for her!"

At the mention of Muggles, Gellert intervened,

"How'd you know what we were planning boy? Have you been spying?"

Gellert reached for his wand and Aberforth did the same,

"So what if I was, someone's got to know what you're up to in here and if you ship me off I intend to tell one of the teachers!"

Albus pulled his wand out as well, not necessarily to intimidate but to stop things if they get out of hand,

"Ab, are you threatening—"

"You ungrateful git! How dare you threaten us?"

Gellert aimed his wand and screamed,

"Crucio!"

Aberforth writhed in invisible pain and fell to the ground. Albus was frozen, momentarily with horror,

"Gellert, Gellert stop, please! Don't hurt him!"

Then, someone else was screaming. It was a small, week scream. Gellert released Aberforth of his curse to look up to see who else was screaming. It was Ariana, out of bed to see what was being so loud. Magic began to pour out of her uncontrollably, trying to protect Aberforth from the intruder. Aberforth, now standing, raised his wand to Gellert and the curses began once again.

Everything happened so quickly, and yet slowly at the same time. Slowly because of how long it took for Albus to attempt to stop the two from fighting. Quickly because of how quickly Ariana fell to the ground, and how no one was able to tell who sent to curse that killed her.

"ARIANA!"

Aberforth was instantly by her side, clutching her small body to his. Tears pouring down his face onto the dead body. Albus stood frozen. Torn between dropping to his feet and calming Gellert down. Gellert began to freak out. Grabbing his long hair, fear shown in his eyes. Before Albus knew it, Gellert ran down the stairs and out of the house. This time, Albus did not watch him leave; he kneeled down beside Aberforth and took Ariana's hand. Like his brother, he began to cry hysterically. Both boys sat in silence, not knowing what to do, for hours, clutching the dead body of the younger sister.

**A/N: I'm Back! Haha, well for now anyway. This was so long! Just about eight pages on Word. Anyway, I'd like to thank the first (and only) reviewer Shinmara-chan! Thanks for bringing the story back to my attention and sorry for the delay, I'm such a procrastinator. Also, heads up to those who may read this—the next chapter is the epilogue, which is the way I planned for it to be. Hope you enjoyed!**

**Love,**

**Pastry~**


	5. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

It was a dark and disastrous night. Albus couldn't believe how many years had passed since he had last saw—or even talked to—Gellert. He let out a small sigh of disdain. He really didn't want to do this. His heart felt like it was breaking at the mere thought of it. After several moments of silence, Albus can feel his opponent coming. Looking up, the two make eye contact with one another. Both still feeling that same spark they had felt the first time they met.

"Gellert."

He acknowledges,

"So you found the wand. May I ask where?"

"The wand maker from my land, Gregorovitch."

"You stole it, I assume?"

"Of course. Remember, my friend, you must take what you want in life—for the greater good."

Albus smiles at the phrase, reminiscing back to better times.

"So Albus, have you come here to join me?"

"No, Gellert, no I have not."

Pulling his wand out from his robes, he gives Gellert one last sad smile. His twinkling eyes full of remorse.

"That's a shame."

Gellert pulls the Elder wand out as well.

The duel begins, the two pulling out their strongest and most powerful spells. Each trying to over power the other, neither wanting to use deadly force.

Finally after what feels like an eternity, the duel comes to an end. A crowd has appeared due to the sounds of the duel; they begin to cheer once they see the menace Grindelwald has fallen. Albus has the Elder wand in his wand had now, his old wand in the other. With the Elder wand pointing at Gellert, he remains perfectly still. Albus bends down to him, noticing that Gellert wishes to say something to him.

"Why, Albus, why? We could have had everything. I thought you loved me."

"Gellert, I do love you. Truly!"

Albus knows they only have mere moments left together before Aurors come to fetch the fallen criminal. Reaching down to stroke Gellert's cheek inconspicuously, Albus continues to speak.

"I love you Gellert, no matter how one sided that love may be, but I—I just couldn't let you continue on hurting other people. I hope, I hope one day you'll understand."

The Aurors arrive and begin placing magical enchantments around the area and Gellert. One of them casts a spell to bind his hands together. They begin dragging their captive away, passing Albus on their way. Pausing as they pass, Gellert whispers something low enough for only Albus to hear.

"It wasn't one sided."

With those last words Gellert disapparates with the Aurors, leaving Albus alone in a sea of unfamiliar faces and a tormented heart.

**A/N: Wow, bout time I finished this one. I only meant for it to be five chapters so yeah. Um, I hope everyone who continued to read this enjoyed it and liked how I ended it. Your thoughts would be appreciated**.


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